Success is to realize not all dreams, but dreams that are really important. To work in a secure place, where you have chances to advance. Part of success is also to work surrounded by people you get along with. Abdullah, male Arab blue collar worker in Israel, 30 years I think (that) career success . . . (is) the ability to — whether you’re selling something to somebody either a commodity or a service — (have) the person appreciate it. I think for me, that’s the finest career. Money isimportant but I don’t think it can buy that. Cromwell, male black South African blue collar worker, 54 years I would want to be in a reputable company, holding a good position, like when I give my business card, people say, ‘‘Oh, you’re in this company, doing that.’’ I value the pride that I have when people actually look at my card and look at me. That, female Malay business school graduate, 29 years For decades the academic literature has nearly exclusively measured career success in terms of pay, promotions, and (job) satisfaction. Although these are obviously important indicators, such approaches do not capture the range and nuance of what people consider when they think about their career success. A recent and notable exception of the mainstream approach is the work of Kristen Shockley and colleagues. In a series of studies in the US, they found that people evaluate their career success in terms of recognition, quality work, meaningful work, influence, authenticity, personal life, growth and development, and satisfaction. Although insightful, this work, like much other research in the career success literature, has a built-in ‘WEIRD perspective as a function of its focus is on Western, educated, industrialized, rich, and democratic countries. Such research may miss the richness and diversity of meanings ascribed to career success in other economic, cultural, and institutional contexts around the globe.
